Robin umbra est scriptor
by TheCreativeCasseroles
Summary: A series of one shots that all connect to one another as they all revolve around our favorite bird boy wonder. Except this time 'round, the newly formed team, and others, come to realize something. Not everything is what it seems with Robin. And this is their first glimpse of this newcomer that has taken a hold in their lives. (Also on AO3 and now Wattpad.)
1. Tim

**Okay so! This is more like me testing the waters with a fic that I'm actually working on. These right here are ideas I just couldn't get rid of and thought, hey, why not make uhhhhh sorta oneshots outta them? And boom ya got these. Dunno how many of them I'll make and I dunno if they're officially 'cannon' so to speak, but I wanted to dabble and here ya go. I hope y'all enjoy it!**

* * *

_**Tim**_

Tim heaved out a sigh of relief when he managed to get all of his latest photos dried. He was lucky that his parents let him have a dark room. Or, well, it was more like they didn't really know he had a dark room, and don't really realize that Tim doesn't go out to get his film developed.

No, the pictures that Tim take are far too precious to be developed in an average store. The ones that he takes are completely private and he fears what one would do if they find them.

(He just can't stop taking the pictures though. Taking pictures give him a purpose. One that just staying at home in a cold mansion doesn't fulfill. He's not a doll, and if running around on rooftops to catch a glimpse of the guardians of this dark city help remind him of that, then he'll run until the end of time.)

So Tim makes his own dark room with the help of books, and the internet, in order to develop his photography.

One by one, Tim oh so carefully takes down the photos.

A stilled flutter of black and yellow.

Right. Robin.

With furrowed brows, Tim took his haul back into his room to look at them properly.

Lately he's come to notice something as he was… bird and bat watching. Robin, the younger of the duo has been acting rather strange. Or at least slightly different.

It's the way that sometimes, almost every other day Tim came to find, his body movements change. They way he fights, enter and exit a crime scene, to the way he holds himself sometimes. It's faint, and subtle, but Tim caught onto it.

And he doesn't know if Batman knows of this change.

Tim would _like_ to think Batman knows, as Batman knows practically everything, but if Batman and Robin doesn't know that Tim has been following them (because they never actually _stopped_ him), then it's possible that Batman doesn't know this change in his partner.

It was kind of a scary thought. Especially if something bad was going on.

(Tim traces the change to be sometime around after July 4th as on July 4th both Batman and Robin were sighted fighting Mr. Freeze during the day at Central Park. So since that was the last sighting within Gotham it had to be between then and four days or so later. It was hard to tell if Robin actually showed up on July 8th, but Tim took note of the change on July 9th.

So much can happen in the span of five days. And Tim doesn't have all the pieces to this puzzle.)

But what could Tim do?

Laying each photo down, Tim took a good look at each of them. They all developed nicely, but Tim knows that he could do better with some of them.

(Some part of Tim thinks that if he couldn't take over his father's business then maybe he could get a job taking photographs of crime scenes. He doesn't really agree or disagree with that part. Although it just might be nothing more than a dream as his father has expressed great interest of him taking over Drake Industries when the time comes.)

Some pictures had both Batman and Robin in them, a few with just Batman, but most of them were mainly Robin.

Robin punching a bad guy, Robin flipping away from a hit. Robin practically flying away. And as Tim looked down the little line he made from the photos, he began to notice something.

Slowly, in each one, Robin began to look… different. A little taller. A little more muscle. The color black taking over the red and yellow, as the cape grew shorter and shorter.

This… Tim didn't remember seeing any of that. And when his fearful eyes gazed down upon the last picture, a demon must've held him captive. After all, what else, besides the Scarecrow's fear toxin of course, could make him feel that way?

There, standing in the dark night illuminated by a building's electrical sign, was not Robin. (Tim was excited when such an opportunity came. When he took the photo he knew that it would be his best one yet.) No, Robin was not there at all. Instead it was a dark knight never before seen, cloaked head to toe with night itself and a large, almost illuminating, red bat struck out from his chest.

There was no Robin, but there was a new Batman in his place.

And Tim grew very, _very_, afraid for Richard Grayson.


	2. Conner

_**Conner**_

Conner wasn't human. He was a Kryptonian. But even then, he wasn't like a Kryptonian. Conner was a clone who grew up in a pod for a few months that rapidly aged him to his teen years.

So he never experienced having a 'normal' childhood, or a childhood at all, and never got that precious time to learn how to interact with other people. Thankfully being part of Young Justice was helping him with that.

"Come on Supey, let's spar!" That impish voice called out.

(And if it means helping him figure out that mere humans can beat him, besides Black Canary of course, then so be it.)

Conner turned his head from the static playing on the T.V to see Robin grin at him.

He furrowed his eyebrows once the words fully registered in his mind.

"You sure about that?" He asked.

Even if the younger (technically older than Conner) teen was wearing his uniform (which he was), Conner was afraid of hurting him. Robin was just so small. So fragile. Much like his name sake, Robin could be oh so easily broken.

(A terrified part of Conner thinks that if the League never managed to get rid of his trigger word, then… then who knows what they would make him do. And who they even were. He just hopes that now there was even less of a chance for him to betray his friends.)

A familiar grin stretched on Robin's face.

Robin wasn't going to let this go was he.

The gloved hand didn't really latched onto his wrist, but even he knew that Robin was using a gentle grip. And then he let himself be lead over to the sparing area.

"So do we start this whenever or…?" Conner asked. Sometimes a spar starts out of the blue with Robin, or there's a countdown. It's hard to tell with Robin as this could very well be a spontaneous decision.

Well, as spontaneous as when he actually wants to spar with someone. (This was the second time Robin has spared with him.)

(Conner thinks that Robin was sort of strange, but what did he know? He's just a clone that didn't grow up out in the real world. But that doesn't stop the fondness that grew for the small, fragile, bird boy that cackles whenever his pranks go right.)

Robin just slides his hand from Conner's wrist, and Conner had a feeling that it might be a surprise attack.

The younger teen just goes to one side and begins a few stretches. A small warmup, and Conner was getting the feeling he should do that too.

He was rewarded with a smile that looked an awful lot like pride. But pride in what? Conner actually doing a warmup?

Once the two were done, Robin let his cape fall around him, and then, Conner knew, that the sparing began.

Throw out a fist and immediately Robin dodged it. Of course it went on like that, Conner trying to land a hit on Robin, and the small bird practically dancing around it. He would deflect anything too close for comfort with expertise. It was almost as if Robin was simply just redirecting Conner's limbs.

And then Conner was surprised by a kick. That surprise was his undoing as Robin sideswept that same leg under his own, making Conner crash down.

They hadn't put that machine on, so no buzzer rang out for everyone to hear of Superboy's failure.

But then Robin came up to him and said, "you gotta stop being so hesitant dude."

Conner's eyes snapped open wide, (he didn't notice they were even closed in the first place), and he just _stared_ at the boy wonder above him.

"… what?" His brain finally decided to blurt out.

It doesn't take x-ray vision to figure out that Robin was rolling his eyes. But fondly.

He held his hand out for Conner to take. Conner himself paused for a moment, but he ultimately grabbed Robin's hand. Gently.

He let himself be pulled up.

"You're being way too hesitant when we spar. I kinda noticed when you fight Artemis, Kid Flash, and Ms. M." Robin seemingly stopped for a moment. "And like, the last time we spared."

The super boy just blinked at the boy wonder.

"Okay, I can kinda understand being a little more hesitant with Ms. M and I'm like pretty sure you two are dating at this point," Conner did _not_ nearly choked on his own spit, "but you're more… gung ho? When it comes to sparing with Aqualad. And out of all of us he's the one with enhanced strength besides you. Kid Flash has his healing factor, but besides being able to run fast that's it. If it weren't for that then he's just like Artemis and me. Humans. And we're not that durable as say, you, and I appreciate the effort to try to pull back." This was when Robin began to take a deep breath.

And that was when Conner had to interrupt him.

"I'm not!"

Robin… did not look impressed. But he did rose an eyebrow, somehow, from underneath his mask. "You're not what?"

"I'm not hesitant, I mean." He clarified.

(Sometimes he hates talking to Robin. Because it's like he's talking to someone way older than him, and it's technically true, because right now Conner should be a freaking _baby_ but he isn't and he's a sixteen year old talking to a thirteen year old. And right then, it felt like Conner was talking to someone older than even sixteen.)

Robin exhaled softly through his nose. "Listen Conner, I get it, you're getting to control your powers, but you can't just let this get to you when you're fighting someone without powers. You remember what happened with Black Canary."

He absolutely could not hold back that wince.

"Just as there's heroes without powers, there's villains with no powers too. And just as we have to be creative, they do too. And you can't hesitate with them or else they'll win." A black gloved hand reached to settle down on a tense arm. "You have to be serious, asses the situation and try to find a _balance_ with your strength. Treat us as your equals and those on the field as someone to be cautious about. We're your teammates, Conner. Let us help you find that balance."

Even with all of his enhanced senses, the world hushed to something less of a whisper around them.

(Conner kind of hates this. Aqualad is the leader but then Robin would sometimes do something like this and make Conner think that Robin should be the leader of their team and then Robin is back to his little troll self.)

It was as if the world wanted him to listen to Robin, and Robin alone.

Budump.

Bu-budump.

Budump.

Bu-budump.

Budump.

Swallowing nothing with a dry mouth wasn't fun. And neither was the, mostly, one sided conversation.

"Okay." He finally settled on. (If only to end the talk.)

A smile grew on Robin's face as Conner gave in. Robin knew he won and Robin will make sure of it that Conner follows through.

Once again was Robin's hand sliding away from Conner, and then the (not so fragile) bird walked away. Only to be swallowed up by the darkness of the cave that Conner and Megan lived in.

.

.

Conner wasn't human. He was a Kryptonian. But even then, he wasn't like a Kryptonian. Conner was a clone who grew up in a pod for a few months that rapidly aged him to his teen years.

But during that time in the pod, he was taught things. And never in his time in the pod, or outside of it, really taught him if it was normal or not to hear two hearts coming from someone.

(Conner thinks that maybe it's not normal, and that maybe, just maybe, Robin isn't as human as everyone says. Including Robin himself.)


	3. Zatanna

_**Zatanna**_

Just _hearing_ Robin cackle was unsettling to Zatanna.

Okay, maybe in another world she would've found it cute. But this one? Very unsettling.

Especially with that… something.

It frustrated her. She has magic running through her blood, so she should know this. Hell, her _father_ would know what this was but she has a feeling that it wouldn't… go well if she went to her father about it.

Sometimes, just out of the corner of her eye, she swears she could see something. Overlapping, fading in and out, completely overtaken, just barely there siluhets. It infuriated her because _she could never fully see what it was._

And it just might take Robin's life away if it was a malicious entity. If it hadn't done that already.

But Zatanna doesn't say anything to the others. She doesn't want to cause a panic.

"And another point goes to Robin!" The youngest of the team starts cackling once more.

Zatanna couldn't help but look over to what was happening. The boys were doing some sparing it had looked like, without the computer so most likely more like rough housing if anything, and Robin won. He was standing there, huge grin on his face, one hand on his hip and the other up showing a victory sign.

A dark something began to shimmer around the side of his head.

The young magician had to keep her eyes from blinking, sure that if they closed then the something would wink out of existence. She drew a little closer, but hopefully not enough to gained attention. Her eyes strained. She made them squint.

The dark something began to… not quite solidify. More like it began to gather. And as it became all the more clear to her, the more she began to worry. The more she began to worry, the more frightened she became.

Right over Robin's shoulder, a dark shadow was fading into existence, pulling itself together. Growing and growing and growing until it was roughly the size of Batman, the shadow stopped. Bright, almost a cherry red, sinister eyes flashed open, paralyzing any who dared to make eye contact. A red, much like the shade of its eyes yet darker, something was pulsating on its chest. (If Zatanna had to make a guess, it was that the pulsating red chest was where its 'heart' would be had it had one.)

It curled itself around Robin, posessively, almost like it was hugging him.

Almost as if it was congratulating Robin.

Almost as if it was _proud_ of Robin.

Zatanna felt sick.

But when both Robin and _it_ noticed her staring, she felt like she was going to puke _then_ faint.

It did not belong to this world. It did not belong with them. It did not belong with _Robin_.

And she had a feeling that this was it when it was in a good mood. And she knew right then and there that she _absolutely did not want to see what it looked like when furious._

"Everything alright Z? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Robin looked so _concerned_ for her as he jogged up to her. And just like that, the shadow dissipated. As if it was never there in the first place.

"I uh," she stammered, trying to think of something to say, "just thought of something my dad would do if I was out late and…"

Robin cocked his head, almost as if he was listening to something. Zatanna knew that it wasn't the psychic link. No. He was talking to _it_.

"Okay. Well, if you need to start heading back, we won't stop you. Just be safe okay?" His face and voice was _so sincere_. She was sure that Robin was truly a sweet boy but… it's hard to want to be more with someone when they had a potentially evil spirit attached to them.

"Okay. Thanks Robin." She gave him a shaky smile before she turned to leave.

(Later on when things grow grim and she can see it try to take over, it doesn't show up gradually. No. It is there in a burst of black and pure red flames and she knows what it was. A demon bat from hell itself.)


	4. Artemis

_**Artemis**_

Robin was like the little brother she never had. The little troll that she would do the whole 'ride or die' she kept on hearing about for. Well technically that's for the whole team, but it still stands. Robin was the little brother she never got to have.

And as the daughter of two criminals, and a highly skilled fighter, she can tell when something is wrong with Robin during sparing _or_ when they were out on the field.

This includes changing fighting styles slightly to the left, and a little more Gotham street fightish, and doing something that he most certainly didn't really mean to do.

She wants to ask what was up, but Artemis thinks that he wouldn't give her an answer. He certainly wouldn't give one to her right then, as some creeps were trying to kidnap Robin.

As to why, they didn't say. Except they had a gun and Artemis and Robin were in their civvies in Happy Harbor, trying to grab groceries for Megan.

"Just come with us kid, and no one gets hurt." Goon number one rasped. He seemed very confident of himself.

Goon number two on the other hand… he was shaking like a leaf. That one would be very unpredictable.

And a freaking black cat had to set him off.

**_Bang!_**

Right into Robin's right arm. Artemis' eyes grew wide as she saw the bullet pierced right through as if his arm was butter.

Everything slowed down, and Artemis could watch how Robin's face shifted from shock to down right _murder_.

Time fast forward again and it wasn't Robin that was fighting two would be kidnapers. No, it was something like _Batman_ that ran with furry. Not a single patch of skin was shown, just all pitch black without a cape. Just the iconic ears on top the helped showed that this, this was a _bat_. Not a bird.

It was as if Robin was no longer there.

And as they went down, as the not Robin calmed, civvies came back into view.

Robin was her little brother. That was not her little brother. Whatever it was, it did not like Robin getting injured.


	5. Wally

_**Wally**_

(Wallace Rudolph West does not believe in magic. He cannot believe in magic for he is a man of science. Even if he claimed to believe in it when Dr. Fate was needed to use his body. He doesn't, and he shouldn't.)

Slugging his arm around the short stack was a very pleasant experience. Getting jabbed in the ribs afterwards? Not so much.

"Owww." Wally moaned out. "That hurt."

"Well yeah," Dick, or Rob since they didn't really want any paparazzi hounding the two friends as they hung out in Happy Harbor, scoffed, "it's supposed to."

Wally, of course as Rob's best friend, groaned louder and began to actively lean his whole body weight onto the shorter boy.

"Agh, Wally!" Rob ducked out of Wally's loose hold, and Wally could _feel_ the little troll's smirk when he fell.

"Ahh!" And there goes some of the skin on his chin. "Damn, that hurt!"

"It's your own fault." Rob snickered.

Grumbling, Wally just got himself up. Of course he ignored all the looks the civilians gave him, but he noticed that Rob was giving him… a strange look.

Not the first time Wally has seen a strange look on his friend, this was a different type of strange, but these strange looks were… concerning to say the least.

If Wally's memory was serving him right, and it tends to serve him right, Rob's been acting… kind of weird ever since The Team started.

Robin's been talking to himself, and not to like, Batman or whatever, but to himself. And he's been fighting kind of different style sometimes. Not to mention it feels like Robin's trying to humor a little kid when they hang out. Which was wrong on multiple levels especially since Wally's the older of the two.

But what really took the cake was that it felt like Robin was _avoiding_ him. Robin! Avoiding him! His best friend!

It just doesn't make sense! Such as the odd staring at nothing, both inside and outside the mask, the tilting his head as if listening to something that _just isn't there _or randomly spazzing a little during fights with the bad guys! The way he instead of walks, but _stalks_ around.

"Here," the familiar voice of his friend broke his speeding thoughts as a bandaid was practically shoved into his field of vision.

"Uhhh, dude. What's this for?" Wally asked as he stood up.

"Well, it just might have something to do with your bleeding chin." Rob snarked.

Huffing, Wally took it. Turning on his heel, Wally spun to look in the window to put the bandaid on his chin. He didn't really need it but his friend gave it to him so whatever.

"Why do you even have that?" Wally asked as he managed to get it on.

"I think you getting hurt proved my point."

Wally rolled his eyes. Well, he _was_ going to do that, but halfway through their roll they caught something. Standing right next to him, where Robin, _Dick_, **should** be was a different teen entirely. This one was taller, with a wider set of shoulders, and while the hair was the same color, it was slightly longer and styled differently. This new teen had not exactly a strong chin line, not to say that it was weak, but it was oddly familiar. He was older than Robin by a good four or five years.

And he wore the same exact clothes as the one Robin was wearing.

An ebony eyebrow rose up and the image began to flicker.

"Anything wrong?" The older teen's mouth move in time with Rob's question. Which was in Rob's voice.

Because it was Robin speaking. Not… whoever that was in the window.

"Um." Wally coughed. He needed something to distract him. (Was the 'him' Rob or the mysterious teen, Wally didn't know.)

Green eyes finally landed on what was on the other side of the glass. It was an aquarium with one giant jumbo shrimp.

"IIIII just never seen a jumbo shrimp alive before!" Wally turned to see his friend with a huge fake ass grin.

There in all his short glory was Richard Grayson in disguise, looking very unimpressed and very much close to calling his bullshit.

But Rob didn't and Wally felt relief to find that his friend was still there and not that stranger.

And as they started to walk away, Wally took one last glance at the window, and didn't see the older, taller, teen again.

(Wally doesn't believe in magic. He doesn't believe in the supernatural. So of course he doesn't believe in stuff like spirits or ghosts or anything of that sort. But he cannot deny that something… wrong is going on with his best friend. And he hopes to any sort of being that might resemble to God that it doesn't have anything to do with Cadmus. After all, that's the only place he could think of to do this, before the behavior started.

And he doesn't want Conner to find out and feel like it was his fault.)


	6. Kaldur

_**Kaldur**_

Kaldur'ahm knew Robin. Not as much as Kid Flash, and not enough to know the younger's true identity.

Robin was the first 'sidekick' to enter the hero business. And so other heroes went and took protégés of their own. Kaldur'ahm was one of them. Alongside Kid Flash and Speedy, the four of them knew each other.

Kaldur'ahm is now the leader of their team, and even those Robin was the first partner, he was not ready to lead. It was true that he does show potential. There are moments where has his pearls of wisdom, and has managed to take over when needed.

And yet… and yet it almost felt like most of the time it wasn't from him.

Kaldur couldn't quite explain it.

And as he thought about it, for a while now, something didn't… feel right with Robin. Unfortunately he couldn't pinpoint it, but one day he suddenly got a feeling that _something_ wasn't right with Robin.

Perhaps there was an air of magic around Robin, and perhaps it felt faintly like a curse. It was very, _very_ unfortunate that whatever it was, it wasn't Atlanian magic, so it was very hard for him to tell.

Although… there were times when he activated his magic, he could almost see… chains. Wrapping around Robin. Most notably around the neck. And if he were to observe closely… he could catch a hint of whoever, _whatever_, Robin was connected to.

Kaldur'ahm wonders if it was best to destroy those chains. Because a chained robin cannot fly, and could drown should high waters begin to rise.


	7. Megan

_**Megan**_

Megan loves Earth. She really does! It's where she could be someone better and not fear for herself. She could be a hero! And with her new teammates they can help her grow to be a great one!

Just as Megan loves Earth, she loves her new friends.

"Yo Ms. M, making a new batch of cookies?" Robin asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Yes! They're almost ready." She turned to look at the timer. Two minutes left. "I wanted to make sure it didn't burn this time."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Robin waved his hand.

"Thank you but…" Megan shifted her eyes away from the young human.

"You just want to make sure?" He guessed with a small smile.

"Well, yes." She returned with a smile of her own. Turning back to the timer, she continued to watch it tick down.

"So uh," Robin grabbed her attention again, "since we're going to use your mind link more, for missions I mean, do you, I mean if you want to, um."

He looked very… unsure of himself. Was he…? "Do you… want to practice using a mind link?" Megan tentatively asked.

Everyone had been a bit hesitant after what happened the first time Megan established a link, but eventually it was all agreed that it would be best for stealth missions.

But Robin? Asking to do something that's very important in her culture when it comes to communicating? That was very, _very_ sweet and oh so touching.

"Um-" Robin coughed into his hand. "Yeah."

Smiling, hopefully in a comforting way, Megan nodded. Honestly she should try to prepare him what it feels like this time.

"Just to let you know, it's going to feel…" She searched for a word for a moment before finding one, "kind of like a poke? Like I'm poking at you? But not hard. And my voice will… sound like it's in between your ears but not quite?" She started to feel flustered, and then muttered to herself, "oh geez I don't think I'm saying this right."

"No, no, that sounds pretty okay to me!" The human quickly reassured her. Robin really was a sweet boy. He gave her a smile. "Just let me know when you start."

Megan nodded and said, "right now," as she went to establish a connection.

Settling the mind link was easy as walking for her. Robin's mind was open and did not resist.

_'Can you hear me?'_ She asked him in a soft voice, not wanting to overwhelm him.

_'Y-Yeah.' _Robin thought back, sounding a little surprised. A grin slowly blossomed on his face.

Megan began to smile too.

_'I'm glad.'_ She told him.

_'Is it okay if we try something? I mean, I want to see what you can hear and can't you know?'_ He asked her. And it was a good question, especially if one hasn't done things like talking through a mind link before.

_'Of course.'_ She then quickly glanced at the timer. _'Oh just let me grab this.'_

_'Sure.'_

Just as the timer went off, Megan used her abilities to pull her cookies out. Taking a deep breath, she could smell that they were done.

_'These need to cool for a little while, and if you want we can eat them together.' _Megan said to him as she set the cookies on a wire rack.

_'That sounds like a great idea.'_ A new voice that Megan was _absolutely sure_ she never heard before rang in her head.

Blinking, Megan quickly made sure she only made a link to Robin.

"Uhm, is there something wrong?" Robin spoke aloud.

Oh snickerdoodles he probably felt her rummaging around.

"Oh sorry!" She squeaked, turning around back to face him. "I just heard a different voice is all!"

The younger's reaction to her was… not exactly reassuring. His face paled even more than it usually was, and if Megan remembered correctly that wasn't a good thing.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked.

The Martian wrung her hands. She didn't really know how to explain it to him. "Well… each person's inner voice is the same. It can't _really_ change that much when you're in a mind link. Unless, of course, you're like super great at changing your voice or something, but normally? Not so much. So uh, color me surprise when I didn't hear… you?" She squeaked at the end. Oh boy how embarrassing Megan.

Everything grew quite, and Megan knew that she should probably take the link down. She did just that, separating their minds until the next time.

Megan didn't really knew what to do… she didn't know if it was normal for humans to be like that but… maybe Robin was like her… different… and if that was the case…

"I should probably go." Robin said, turning to leave, but also effectively snapping Megan from her thoughts.

"No, Robin wait!" She reached out.

And he stopped.

She didn't know what to do, what to say. She didn't exactly had a lot of friends back on Mars. And she thought what Megan would do, and what she, M'gann, could do. The only thing she could think of was…

She made a cookie float in front of Robin, offering something.

He seemed hesitant. And with good reason, she thinks.

A pale hand reached up. Slowly, with care, he plucked the cookie from the air. "Thank you Megan."

She gave him a soft smile, hoping that it would reach to him that she would only help him. And as he walk away, eating her cookie, she thinks to herself that maybe Megan couldn't keep a secret, but M'gann would take it to her grave if Robin doesn't want anyone to know.

After all, being different can be deadly.


	8. Alfred

_**Alfred**_

Alfred Pennyworth has worked for the Wayne family for _years_. He has worked for the late Thomas and Martha Wayne, raised their son in their absence, and once Bruce was of age, Alfred began to work for him. Even when the young master decided that the best thing to do was dress as a giant bat to get into fisticuffs with criminals in the streets.

And most importantly when Bruce took in a lonely lad that resembled an awful lot like a similar little boy at the edge of a dark alleyway with pools of blood surrounding him.

Alfred may not have been there for the birth of one Richard Grayson, just like with one Bruce Wayne, but he has spent quite an amount of time with the young man to know just about everything about him.

From his likes to his dislikes. His little quirks. And even…

"This look okay Alfred?" The young man held out the pork pie that he took from the oven.

His sharp eyes took note of all the crisp and golden crust that the pie held. He could smell the meat and all of its flavors rise up. Truly, it looked, and smelt, scrumptious.

Now if only the real Richard Grayson could make such a good pie. After all, Alfred Pennyworth knows how the young lad's ability to cook was much like his legal guardian's.

"Simply stunning young master Dick. I suggest we set it down to cool before taking a bite. Don't you think so?" He locked eyes on a nervous boy that was wearing an acrobat's skin.

The boy grinned and nodded.

This one comes and goes every other day. Well, most days that's how it goes. Sometimes Dick and the new lad switch places in the middle of the day. Alfred suspects that perhaps at school as well.

As long as Dick's studies were not interrupted, but it is not ideal.

Alfred knows that this newcomer must have come from Cadmus. And after what had happened to Superboy, Conner Kent as he was given a name, he could understand Richard getting… protective of this person.

He, for he seems to be okay with those pronouns while pretending to be Dick, is more hot headed so to speak than Dick. He shares the same love for The Gray Ghost as Bruce does. He is a much better cook than the others. He goes out and Alfred suspects that he's taking care of a few strays.

He does not have a name. Or at least, not to Alfred's knowledge. The butler is sure that if the lad doesn't have one then Dick is sure to give him one.

"Do you think we can try to make dessert too?" The boy who was not Richard asked earnestly. His eyes sparkled with the want of knowledge.

What type of man would Alfred be if he did not grace the lad with the knowledge he seeks? After all, it was rather nice to know that perhaps the knowledge of being able to cook might seep over to Richard. And then Richard might be able to take care of himself once he flys away from the nest.

Alfred hummed in thought.

Eton mess. That was a rather easy one to make. And he has some leftover meringue nests that he had made not that long ago…

"I have decided. Eton mess should be rather fast as it can be done within ten minutes." Joy bloomed within him as the boy beamed. "We will need four cups of strawberries, two teaspoons of either caster sugar or vanilla sugar-"

"Uh, what's caster sugar and vanilla sugar?" He asked.

It was a rather good question for someone who is starting to learn how to cook.

"Caster sugar is a very fine sugar, and vanilla sugar is sugar that has the essence of vanilla embedded into it, giving the vanilla taste. I am sure we have both, but remember this, vanilla sugar is more common in Europe than here in the states."

"So you get it imported?" He asked.

"I can assure you that we can find it here. Just a bit of searching will be just fine. But should you wish to make it yourself, that's just fine too."

"Can you show me how to do that sometime?"

It warmed Alfred's heart to see someone so interested in cooking.

And so, as Alfred continued to nudge the boy into the right direction, the boy did everything on his own.

From the corner of his eye, and through the reflection of the mixing bowl, Alfred could very much swear on the graves of Thomas and Martha Wayne that it was an older teenage Bruce Wayne whipping away and not Richard Grayson.

_'Perhaps,'_ he thinks to himself, _'it was not just Superman's son they were making down there.'_

* * *

**So uh, I ended up doing some research for this chapter. Mainly because I wanted to know what English food that would be "easy" or "fast" that Alfred could teach him. So yeah. Here they are!**

recipes/pork-pies-2043045

recipes/nigella-lawson/eton-mess-1937474

**Here's also recipes to make your own vanilla sugar and meringue nests.**

blog/baking-101/what-is-vanilla-sugar/

/meringue-nests/

**So uh. Yeah. I hope you enjoy this!**


	9. Stephanie

_**Stephanie**_

Stephanie was six years old! She was officially six years old and it was her birthday!

Except her father was being mean (she didn't do anything! He just started to hit her and called her really bad names) and her mother yelled at her. (And her eyes didn't look right. It was like she wasn't looking at Stephanie. Somehow they looked foggy and Stephanie thinks her mother made more red constellations on her arms.) It was really loud, and there wasn't any cake. Not even waffles. Stephanie thinks that maybe her parents forgot. But that's okay, because she saved enough money for a candy bar!

So she left her home and started to walk… and walk… and walk…

Until she got lost.

Tall buildings towered over her, and all the grown ups didn't pay any attention to her. The sun was setting. She didn't have anything to eat.

She was all alone… and she grew scared.

As she cried for help, some mean kids were mean and promised to help her but lied and hurt her and took all of her money. So she cried and cried and cried and her dress that she liked was dirty and ripped. She really tried to find something nice to help her but she couldn't find anything.

But then something magical happened! A knight in dark armor appeared! He looked kinda like how Batman does with the long ears but he was wearing knight armor! And a long black cape! With a red bat on his chest!

Well, actually it was more like she heard a sound of a bat, followed it, and it lead her to the knight!

"Are you lost?" He had asked her. His voice was deep and sounded like her father's when he was drinking from the brown glass bottles, but there wasn't any gross breath and it didn't sound like he was tripping on his words!

The knight knelt down before her and was very kind to her. He made her hurts feel better, brushed her hair, and bought her presents when she told him that it was birthday! He even got her her favorite flavored cake! He was a real gentleman.

But like Cinderella, when the clocktower started to ring, her knight faded away. But even if he became shorter, and sounded younger, he was still her knight! (He even called her a princess.)

And as she got to meet all of the other knights in training, as they had to be since they were following her knight (including the baby), she began to feel something. Stephanie didn't know what that feeling was, but she thinks she didn't want to leave them. Surely her father and mother would be worried for her. (Even if they would never go searching for her.)

But then something even more magical happened! They promised to play with her! And visit her! And take her to the park and go out to nice places to eat!

She was so happy she cried! It was really a fairy tale coming true!

But in every fairy tale someone was cursed. Stephanie doesn't think she was cursed, but maybe it was her knight. After all, his armor faded away like sparkles and dust. Maybe he only really comes out when the armor appears.

She doesn't know, but maybe true love's kiss would fix it! All Stephanie has to do is find his true love and they would all get their happily ever after!


	10. Cass

_**Cass**_

She was in a whole new world that did not make sense, and she was tasked with something that she wasn't entirely sure she could do.

Her father created her to take life, but she was given the instructions by someone else to keep this one's life and make sure it _thrives_. Even though she doesn't know how to make sure that happens. But this was entrusted to her and her alone so she must see to it through the end.

But she knows for a fact that she does not want to take life like her father wanted her to. And now she knows that she wants to protect it, much like how her mission is now. To protect this small being, and keep him alive.

But this place she was instructed to go to? Very strange. After all, it is where she met the people who became to be known as her protectors. Even if she does not need protection. And those two were very odd indeed.

They try to teach her words. Words both spoken and not. The not spoken words she was more familiar with as it is with the whole body, even though it is mostly with hands.

The smaller ones try to keep the teaching up when the protectors are not around. All four of them, the protectors and the smaller ones, do their best to provide for her and the little one.

The smallest of the two smaller ones (who walks around on light feet, and carries a black rectangular object that she has seen before. It snaps and keeps images of where it was looking with its glass eye.) take her and her little one to his home. It is large, and cold, but he tells her with his body that it is safe. He is alone there. The bigger of the smaller ones (who carries himself as if expecting a fight from her, and almost always has at least one small wound) sometimes stay with the three of them. He takes them out to show them the best places to hide.

The protectors teach her ways to protect and not kill. To run and not maim. To not get hurt and how to heal not only herself but others. The protectors take them all to places to eat, and try to show them how to make their meals. How to take proper care of the little one.

She comes to love all of them. Including the little one.

Yes, the protectors are very odd as most of the people she knew would not do this. Maybe they affect those they come into contact with much like the smaller ones.

(She thinks perhaps the protectors take in those who are hurt. She can see that the smaller ones are not hurt on the outside but the inside. She wonders if she and her little one are hurt on the inside too.)

She wonders why the protectors act the way they do, sometimes. It might be due to the fact that they are two people in one body. She knows this, but as she watches the others, the little one doesn't know, the bigger one suspects but denies it. The smaller one knows too, but will tries not to communicate much about it. Unless needed she suspects.

The protectors act that they aren't in one body however. They act as if they are something that she comes to know as 'twins'. But they are not and she knows this, and they know this.

The way they move are different yet similar. It is as if they were trained by the same master, and it is very likely that they were. But they both show traces of something different. One… flies around more while the other is more… grounded.

It is hard for her to describe things, but she was getting better. Her 'vocabulary' was getting wider.

(It also helps to keep them separate by the clothes that they choose to wear. When things get difficult to keep the two separate. But sometimes it's hard to tell when exactly they switch around as they tend to act. And acting can be hard for her to tell if the acting is really a truth or a lie.)

Either way, she can tell. Especially those moments where she can almost see the second one. The one who did not belong in their body. When larger hands tuck away one of the smaller one's hair; when ice blue eyes shine with pride when one of them managed to make the little one laugh. When one of them is in danger and he almost is there entirely to _protect them like he was meant to._

When he is sad and is missing of people she does not know, he looks a lot like a man she once caught a glimpse of.

Cassandra is in a very strange place, with very strange people. But they protect her and she will protect them with her life. And she hopes to ease the second protector's sadness.


	11. Jason

_**Jason**_

Jason plopped down onto the grimey ground. He was tired and needed to rest. The eleven year old didn't give a flying fuck what Terry wanted to do. He was tired and wanted answers. And if it meant to sit down in a dank alleyway, then so fucking be it.

He closed one eye, rested his head on his hand, and kept Terry in his sight with his other eye.

Terry, or so he claims to be his name, leaned up against the wall next to him, not caring if any God awful substances latch on his clearly genuine leather jacket. He was short, but so was Jason, but damn it he doesn't believe Terry when he says he's seventeen. Jason met with Terry's twin, Rob, and there is no way that guy acts like a seventeen year old. Although not everyone matures at the same rate _and_ not everyone actually ages at this he same rate either. So Jason logically knows that there could be a possibility that the twins actually were in their later teens. But a larger part of him calls bullshit.

It might mainly be because he never sees the twins together.

But there was no way that they were the same person. They acted too different from one another. And having Terry continue his fake ass accent sort of helps keep the two separated. But they couldn't be like Two Face, if the twins aren't actually twins, since Jason's pretty sure Two Face is a special case.

(Jason is a smart boy. He likes to read as much as possible. Learning about the human psyche with library books is something that he could do at this point in his life. He just wish he could actually _buy_ the books. Jason is like a sponge and he wants to absorb as much knowledge as possible. And Terry and Rob know this.)

So Terry just leaning against the building, as nonchalant as possible, acting as if everything was fine.

Jason got the feeling that if this were a movie, and if Terry was even the smoking type, Terry would hold a cigarette loose in between his pointer finger and middle finger. Occasionally he would take a drag of it, and then slowly let it loose, letting the smoke twirl in the air around him, obscuring him. Making him seem less real.

But life wasn't a movie, and Terry wouldn't even touch a cigarette. And yet…

And yet it almost felt like there was some smoke obscuring his view of the teen.

(There was always something about Terry that seemed off. Like he wasn't actually real.)

"There's this girl," Terry started, snatching Jason from his thoughts, "and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I haven't been the greatest boyfriend to her."

Wait he's talking to him about relationship problems? Terry what the fuck.

"And I've come to the conclusion that… I want to do better. I want to _be_ better. For her. Because I think… I think maybe I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But to do that I need to actually be there for _her_ and not just let her be there for _me_."

It was almost as if the duo were in a bubble. Outside of it, Jason knew that cars were zooming around, people were walking at various paces, voices were chattering not unlike birds singing away. Yet in the small alleyway that they found themselves in, it all was distant. (It was as if they were in their own little world.)

"Have you talked to her?" Jason asked, as that's the only thing he could think of to say. (It's almost what everyone says in the books. It feels like it was something he should say too.)

"She doesn't know I'm here."

The young boy choked on his spit. "What did you do?! Run away?!"

Terry tilted his head just so, that Jason could see a lone, cold blue eye. A frigid breeze chilled him to the bone. But it might've just been the look he was given from his pseudo older brother for the first time. (No one would catch Jason calling Terry his big brother aloud let alone calling Rob that. It was rather embarrassing but damn it, it felt good to be looked after for a change.)

"No. I told you before, me coming here? An accident." Terry tilted his head back.

(Jason hates Terry and Rob's sunglasses. He can never tell if they're looking at him or not. And right now he can't tell if Terry was looking above at the sky or was still staring him down. Jason hates it and wishes that they could trust him enough to let him see their whole face.)

He licked his chapped lips. He knows it would make it worse. He doesn't have any chapstick. (Terry or Rob would buy him some if they notice it. They seem to notice everything.)

He gathered his courage and said, "why are you telling me this?"

Jason watched as Terry inhaled, and exhaled. He could almost see the imaginary smoke from the nonexistent cigarette be expelled from the teens lungs. (A more childish part of him wonders if that's what a dragon in the body of a human would look like.)

"Because you asked me if I had a home. Isn't home where the heart is? And she, she holds my heart. Or at least a part of it."

Shifting, Jason moved his legs around, feeling like he needed something to do. "Then who else holds your heart?" He asked.

"My family." It was short, it was sweet.

It made sense.

(A cynical part of him, the one that grew in the streets of Crime Alley, tells him that he isn't part of that family.)

"So I suppose that means that I have two homes." Terry continued.

Jason blinked. What. What did Terry mean by that?

Almost as if reading his mind, Terry went on to say, "see, my girlfriend and a good majority of my family is back where I came from. But here? There's a missing member here and if I find him, then I'm partly home. But even then right now, as we speak, I'm home too."

Jason… blinked owlishly at the teen. What did he mean by that?

Deep chuckles struck through him, and a new, older, teen smiled down on him. His blue eyes were much more pale than the ones he got a glimpse of before. No, these were the color of ice of glaciers, but they weren't frozen. No, they were so _warm_ and full of _love_ that Jason couldn't breath. This teen hairstyle and choice of clothing was so familiar and yet the material that the clothes were made out of looked nothing like anything Jason had seen before. The facial structure of this new person was ringing bells, but nothing came to mind.

Jason knows this person. Jason has seen someone like him before.

"Silly Jason," this new teen spoke, his voice never heard before except for around corners and hidden away in the dark of night, "you hold a piece of my heart too. You're part of my family, and Rob agrees with me when I say, you're our little brother."

And just like that, the teen was gone. There was only Terry and Jason. Jason and Terry. No one else. Nothing else, except for the alleyway of Gotham. (It was almost as if he was never there in the first place.)

And just like that, Jason had to remember to breathe again.


	12. Bruce

**Here we are. At the end of this series. The final chapter. I'm honestly a bit surprised by how well received this is, but that's honestly a nice surprise no? Anyway, as I mentioned before, this whole story is a part of something bigger. Many character that you see here will be in this story that I'm currently writing. It's definitely going to be a beast for me to write since I'm pretty sure that this would be the longest story I've ever written. Especially with I had originally planed for the first chapter; I ended up splitting it up into parts in order for it to not be too long.**

**Now keep in mind, everything that you've read here, especially this chapter, might not be final within the main story itself. I do think it would be interesting to have these chapters woven into the story proper from the characters POV of that story. I want you to also keep in mind that since the all the characters POV is different here, AND from the ones in the main story, the tone will be different. As you could already tell from what you have read.**

**Currently I'm working on only the fifth chapter of this main story, and it is unknown when I will be able to post up the first chapter. Why I am saying this is because I wish to get a good chunk of the chapters done so then I would have more time to finish it, if I couldn't have enough restraint to post it and managing to finish it, so then all of you wouldn't have to wait months if not, possibly years for it to update. This whole side story was in fact written when I had hit a block when it came to write this main story.**

**I'd like to warn you, this chapter contains spoilers for my story, which I have dubbed as 'Two for the Price of One' when I couldn't really think of a name. But please remember, this scenario might not actually happen this way since I am still in the early stages of writing it.**

**(Also I hope I don't hype this chapter up to be like, a super long confrontation or something. It's like, 1,479 words, but it's enough for everything I wanted to be in it. I also like to apologize for the super long authors's note.)**

**Without further ado, the one and only famous dark knight that started it all, the very first Batman, Bruce Wayne!**

* * *

_**Bruce**_

"No wait! That's the original Batman! He can help us!" A small child clung onto the creature.

Batman had heard rumors about someone imitating him. Of a being cloaked head to toe in darkness with white eyes and a bright red bat on their chest. The rumors were fairly new, so they must have started not that long ago.

It is unknown for how long they've been in Gotham all together.

Being able to encounter this stranger fighting criminals in an alleyway felt like a stroke of luck to a person less experienced. To him it felt suspiciously like something else. Especially with a child.

Batman took a step closer. The impersonator tensed up, and the child caught on.

"It's okay!" The child exclaimed, moving from holding long legs to holding a hand. Batman noticed that the child started to rub circles with their thumb onto the black hand.

The impersonator looked down onto the child, and Batman did the same.

The child was small, short, but looked to be nine years old. They were wearing a green t-shirt, black pants and black shoes. Dirt, mud, and possibly even dried blood scattered around on their outfit. Black hair and familiar blue eyes adorn the child's face. Scrapes littered their arms and face, and Batman would suspect that there were more of that elsewhere. Their voice sounded like a young boy's.

The impersonator on the other hand was almost as tall as Batman. Much like the rumors told, they were absolutely covered with a black material, that Batman couldn't identify. It looked a bit like fabric. Although it was highly unlikely that it actually was fabric. Adorn their head was the 'bat ears' that Batman had in his suit. White lens covered the person's eyes, and a dark red bat was on their chest. (The red bat almost seemed like it was glowing.) The impersonator's 'suit' seemed to also have boots built in, so their natural height would be a little shorter. Their physic suggests that they were male, but Batman knows that that wasn't always the case. Their physic also suggested that they were strong with their muscles, but they were lean. Most likely more of a dodging type than a heavy hitter.

It almost felt ridiculous that such a small being was most likely the only thing keeping the impersonator from fighting Batman.

"My name's Matt. Actually it's Matthew McGinnis, but uh," the child began to look a little nervous, "call me Matt."

Batman took note of the name.

He, Matt, shifted from foot to foot. "I'm going to tell you something pretty wild and please believe me."

"You'll need to tell me what it is first." Batman said, voice gentle. Matt was obviously scared, and Bruce always did have a soft spot for kids.

It was gradual, Matt relaxing, but he calmed down nonetheless.

"So uh, this might sound crazy, but he's Batman," Matt pointed to the person he was holding onto, "and uh, we're from the year 2040."

Silence. That… wasn't something that Batman had expected.

But the silence seemed to have open a flood, as Matt began to blurt out, "okay I know it sounds crazy because you're obviously the original Batman, and as the original Batman there's only you so that means that there shouldn't be another Batman, but he's Batman and so are you, but he's from the future with me. I mean I'm with him. I mean, we were born later and we grew up and it should be 2040, but something happened and now we're here, and it shouldn't even be October because it was July and obviously it was 2040 not 2010 but now it's October and the year 2010, and, and, and-"

The longer Matt had talked, the more frantic his speech was. Just by the end he was shaking, tears building up in his eyes, and his breath was uneven.

Then, with tears overflowing, he croaked out, "I think something's wrong with him."

Batman dared to take another step closer. "What do you mean?" He asked.

He saw the child flinch, almost as if the question itself had smacked him.

"I… he, he doesn't speak. He doesn't respond. He just reacts to whatever. I- I'm not suppose to look under his mask. It's the number one rule with superheroes." It pained Bruce to see Matt's eyes grow haunted, and his heart chilled with what he heard next. "It- it was an accident, I promise. He hadn't eaten since I don' know when. I tried to get him something to eat. I didn't know if he could eat through the mask, but then… I. I saw. I saw his face. His eyes. It-it was completely blank. As if he couldn't even see me. It's almost like he doesn't have his _soul_ anymore."

**_Clink_**

An empty aluminum can began to roll towards them, as Batman and Matt jumped to attention to the newcomer.

Tensing, Batman got himself ready. For what, hopefully not a fight.

Black boot. Following that was its partner. There wasn't even a hint of a sound of footsteps coming from those feet. No, but almost a heartbeat later the sounds of shoes hitting the ground reached his ears.

Slowly, the figure emerged from the darkness, footsteps continuing to fall behind the actual footfalls. As the figure came into better lighting, Batman saw that it was the exact same person as the 'Batman' Matt was holding onto. Except something was different. Something was wrong.

Batman could see right through him. And on the other side was none other than Dick following close behind. (He was wearing civilian clothing, but it looked too much like his undercover civvies, including the sunglasses. Just what was he doing?)

A boot reached the ground. A foot stepped down a moment later, making the audible click. Phantom white eyes stared ahead to the solid version. Real hidden eyes followed with laser focus.

Batman shifted, ultimately gaining the phantom's attention. His head turned, a bit slow over to him. A beat of Batman's heart, and Robin turned to stare at him too.

The phantom stopped, but Robin didn't. Not until he stood in the same place as the phantom.

Two images were overlapping one another. One was the phantom, and the other was Robin. And it looked like the phantom's image was growing stronger.

Batman's mind raced.

Matt's breath hitched.

The phantom's head snapped over to the child, and not even a second later Robin's head snapped over as well.

"…M…Matt?" A rough voice called out, softly. Robin's voice echoed not long after, just as soft.

They both took the child in, both of their faces almost in disbelief. As if they didn't expect to see Matt.

"Is that…"

"Is that…"

"Really you?"

"Really you?"

More tears fell from Matt's face. He nodded.

And just like that, as if rain was falling down, the dark suit started to wash away. Tall black bat ears gave way to styled black hair. Blue irises with black pupils faded in from the pure white eyes. White skin began to peak out. An outfit that looked suspiciously close to Robin's own took place of the batsuit, and the glowing red bat on his chest dimmed down to pure black of a shirt.

Tears began to well up in the young man's clear ice blue eyes.

"Matt." His voice cracked, sounding so much younger. And Dick's voice cracked with the same emotions that was racking through the other.

The phantom reacted first, as it seemed to always do, by closing the distance and embracing the small child. Dick seemed to be the one to actually hold the child with all the conviction the phantom did.

"You're here."

"You're here."

"You're okay."

"You're okay."

Matt returned the embrace.

And all Batman did was watch.

(He had a horrible, terrible, _sinking_ feeling that this was something that he couldn't, _shouldn't_, interrupt. He was an outsider to this moment, and yet there was Robin, no, _Dick_ holding onto Matt the exact same way as the young man. No, he wasn't even a man yet, he couldn't even be a legal adult quite yet.

This shouldn't be happening, and Bruce can only wonder why it was. How did this happen, when did it happen. So many things. And another horrible, terrible, _sinking_ feeling was that this had been going on for a while. Bruce doesn't know how he missed it. Or if he didn't, then how could he dismiss it.)

Dick continue to follow the phantom's every move like a puppet or even a robot getting its commands a little later than it normally would have. Every stroke of dirtied, tangled black hair; every whispers of 'it's going to be okay, I promise'; and every kisses on the forehead.

Finally, Matt managed to pull back.

"Terry?" He asked. "What happened to you?"


	13. Barbara

Chapter Text

**Just a cute little bonus Barbara! It's short and I thought it would be amusing. Enjoy! Also I'm still not done with that main fic of mine.**

* * *

**_Barbara_**

"What did you do Grayson?" Barbara slammed her hands down on the lunchroom table.

Her friend almost jumped out of his seat, only to bang his knees against the table.

"Wh-what do you mean?" He stuttered.

Barbara Gordon narrowed her eyes. "Well, for one thing you've been avoiding me, and look like you're about to sweat buckets."

She took some comfort to see him squirm.

"No!" His prepubescent voice squeaked. "No of course not, com-BABS! Yes, Babs I didn't do anything. Or avoiding you."

A red eyebrow twitched. "Oh really? Then what were you going to say?"

"Nothing!"

She smelt bullshit.

"It wouldn't be commissioner would it?" She asked. Because for some god damn reason Dick had been calling her freaking commissioner. That's her dad. Not her.

"Noooooo!" He strung the word out so unconvincingly. "Of course not Barbara! Why would you think that? I'm hurt."

Pursing her lips, she held her hands onto her hips. She then stared.

And stared.

And stared.

And Dick broke. "Okay!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the heavens above. "I just had this really weird thought that was all, 'what if Babs becomes the new commissioner?' And it just wouldn't leave. So now it's like. There's Commissioner Gordon, oh look here comes the Commissioner, and ahhhh!"

Quirking one eyebrow up, Barbara watched as the drama queen plop his face down into his food.

.

.

.

"Please never speak of this again." A voice mumbled from the splattered food.

Thoroughly amused, Barbara smirk. "Whatever you say potato face."

And the world returned to its status quo as her circus friend groaned into his mashed potatoes.


End file.
